After interviewing at all the NYC academic locations, there was one commonality between all of them: one of the biggest attractions of going to the residency was it was in NYC! There is definately that superiority that NYC in general thinks it has over everywhere else that permiates the residency programs. I don't know if the program ingrains that into the residents, or the residents all convince themselves that to deal with what they are going through, to make it all seem "worth it"
I agree with SLU that exotic pathology is not the exclusive domain of NYC, and I agree with kirurg you do probably get more diverse and advanced pathology at many of the big names in NYC... but it is like that in nearly any major urban academic center... in fact, it took me going to NYU to see a plethera of lumpectomies and melanomas and thyroidectomies, while in Newark is where I saw HIPEC procedures for stage 4 disease, a GIST tumors the size of watermelon that required a gastrectomy, spleenectomy, transverse colectomy, and distal pancretectomy, A hepatic enuclation of a hemagioma that took up the entire right lobe of the liver... and I am sure it is like that at all major academic referral centers, and NYC places might actually suffer a bit because of all the competition (if there is one tertiary center in a state, all major in state referrals go there... if there are 4 within 10miles on manhatten, they get spread out, and those in upstate, some probably go to Albany, some probably go to Conneticut, some maybe even to Boston). And anyway, the most interesting pathology is Cancer pathology, and the number one place in the city people go is MSKCC which is fellow driven. NYC needs to get off its high horse.
2 of my top 3 choices still remain NYC, but not because I have to be in NYC (infact, I will be living in Jersey and commuting in if I end up at one of them), and not because I think it is a unique experience only acheivable in NYC. No, I want to go to those programs because the are quality training programs, with excellent reputations and many graduates currently fill top notch fellowships and faculty appointments, excellent attending/resident relationships and autonomy (Bellview in particular), and a good variety of cases and services the residents rotate in. One thing I did to decide on these programs was think: If they were in the middle of nowhere, would I still like what I was doing enough to go there? And I can answer yes to these two in particular.
And what is it saying about our training when we think things directly involved in patient care, like drawing blood, putting IV's, and doing an EKG as scut? SCUT is endless paperwork, sitting on the phone to find medical records, dealing with billing issues, etc. Caring for patients is what we got into medicine for... yes we have a higher skill set and so some argue should not be bothered with these more mondane tasks, but I will never complain about something directly involved in caring for a patient.
Kirurg... when you said you saw a ton of interesting cases, what exactly do you mean by saw? Were they on your service and you provided post-op care (technically seen by you, and from the interviews I had in NYC, the only way many interns see any patients)? Were you second scrubbed, cutting sutures and retracting (technically can be logged as a case I believe, but essentially what 3rd and 4th year medical students should be doing)? Were you first assisting and essentially driving the camera or cutting the suture for the attending (which for an advanced case is appropriate for your level, but then why wasn't a more senior resident actually doing the case)? Or were you scrubbed and getting to do a majority of the case (which is unusual for any intern to be doing on anything but the most basic of cases, like Hernias, Appys, Lumpectomies, Hemrhoid, which is not the amazing pathology not seen anywhere else, but necessary, appropriate cases all interns should be doing to learn basic operating techniques)? I am also interested to know what NYC program did an intern get 200 cases...
